Princess of Thorns

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy, yet she is cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and to free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne 10 years ago. Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late?

Master of Crows

In an isolated fortress, the Master of Crows battles an ancient god for possession of his soul. Renegade and heretic, he dreams of ways to defeat the god and destroy the priesthood who would execute him. Sent by her masters to betray him, a woman comes who possesses a weapon he can use to triumph over both, but only with the ultimate sacrifice. A tale of love and allegiance.

Eidolon: Wraith Kings, Book 2

In a bid for more power, the Shadow Queen of Haradis unleashes a malignant force into the world. Her son Brishen, younger prince of the Kai royal house, suddenly finds himself ruler of a kingdom blighted by a diseased darkness. His human wife Ildiko must decide if she will give up the man she loves in order to save his throne. Three kingdoms on the verge of war must unite to save each other, and a one-eyed, reluctant king will raise an army of the dead to challenge an army of the damned. A tale of alliance and sacrifice.

Cruel Beauty

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom - all because of a reckless bargain her father struck. And since birth, she has been training to kill him. Betrayed by her family yet bound to obey, Nyx rails against her fate. Still, on her 17th birthday, she abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, disarm him, and break the 900-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle - a shifting maze of magical rooms - enthralls her.

Radiance: Wraith Kings, Volume 1

Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

The Shadow Queen

Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and her father's life. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common - magic. She'll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

Hidden Huntress

Beneath the mountain, the king's reign of tyranny is absolute; the one troll with the capacity to challenge him is imprisoned for treason. Cecile has escaped the darkness of Trollus, but she learns all too quickly that she is not beyond the reach of the king's power. Or his manipulation. Recovered from her injuries, she now lives with her mother in Trianon and graces the opera stage every night. By day she searches for the witch who has eluded the trolls for 500 years.

From Burning Ashes: Collector Series, Book 4

In this final installment, Zoey's strength, determination, and trust are put to the ultimate test. In the fight to protect the people she loves and stop DMG from experimenting on fae, humans, and animals to create soldiers, she learns the reality of how far Dr. Rapava will go to achieve his ultimate mission.

Crimson Bound

When Rachelle was 15, she was good - apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless - straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

The Great Hunt

When a monstrous beast attacks in Eurona, desperate measures must be taken. The king sends a proclamation to the best and bravest hunters: Whoever kills the creature will win the hand of his daughter, Princess Aerity, as a reward. The princess recognizes her duty but cannot bear the idea of marrying a stranger - she was meant to marry for love - until a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention.

The Beauty of Darkness: The Remnant Chronicles, Book 3

Lia and Rafe have escaped Venda, and the path before them is winding and dangerous - what will happen now? This third and final book in The Remnant Chronicles is not to be missed. Best-selling author Mary E. Pearson's combination of intrigue, suspense, romance, and action makes this a riveting listen for teens.

Warrior Witch

Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil they have unleashed upon the world. As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who'd see them dead. To win, they will risk everything. And everyone.

Stolen Songbird

For five centuries, a witch's curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Ccile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

When 19-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin - one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

Empire of Storms

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don't. As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

The Heart of Betrayal: The Remnant Chronicles

Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape...and even less of being together. Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komisar that she has a magical gift, and the Komisar's interest in Lia is greater than either Kaden or Lia foresaw.

The Bound

Cyrene Strohm is a Queen's Affiliate, a high-ranking official of the court of Byern, with power and privilege to spare. But she's also a keeper of dangerous secrets: like the fact that she holds the heart of the King, and that she possesses magic in a world where magic no longer exists. Determined to discover what this means and how to use her newfound abilities, Cyrene sets off for the distant land of Eleysia, an island nation where Affiliates are strictly forbidden from entering. But the journey is perilous, and the destination may mean utter ruin.

Arcana Rising: The Arcana Chronicles, Book 4

The Emperor unleashed hell and annihilated an army, jeopardizing the future of mankind - but Circe struck back. The epic clash between them devastates the Arcana world and nearly kills Evie, separating her from her allies. With Aric missing and no sign that Jack and Selena escaped Richter's reach, Evie turns more and more to the darkness lurking inside her. Two Arcana emerge as game changers: one who could be her salvation, the other her worst nightmare.

Dragon Mated: Supernatural Prison, Volume 3

In the stunning conclusion to the Supernatural Prison trilogy, Jessa Lebron finds herself deep in the world of Larkspur, the dragon king. She will have to play it smart and fight with everything to stay one step ahead of him and while at times it's tough to keep her focus, she will do anything to escape and reunite with her boys, the Compass quads. Of course, it's impossible to be where she is and not dig deeper into the curse of the dragon mark.

Under Different Stars: The Kricket, Book 1

Kricket Hollowell never wished upon stars. She was too busy hiding in plain sight, eluding Chicago's foster care system. As her eighteenth birthday approaches, she now eagerly anticipates the day she'll stop running and finally find her place in the world. That day comes when she meets a young Etharian soldier named Trey Allairis, who has been charged with coming to Earth to find Kricket and transport her to her true home.

Cinder: Book One of the Lunar Chronicles

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.... Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle.

Dragons Realm

Mina Louvet is a fighter, a human with a powerful will to survive in a world dominated by warlocks, soul-eaters, and shifters. Identified by the king's witch as one of the rare, invaluable females in Dragons Realm who can give birth to a dragon's son, she was stolen from her parents as a child and taken to the Keep to be reared in the ways of the Ahavi. As one of the few, the elect - the Sklavos Ahavi - Mina is expected to feed her master's fire, reanimate his blood, and above all else, give him strong dragon offspring: children who will one day rise to power.

The Star-Touched Queen

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Though she's content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar.

A Promise of Fire

Catalia "Cat" Fisa is a powerful clairvoyant known as the Kingmaker. This smart-mouthed soothsayer has no interest in her powers and would much rather fly under the radar, far from the clutches of her homicidal mother. But when an ambitious warlord captures her, she may not have a choice. Griffin is intent on bringing peace to his newly conquered realm in the magic-deprived south. When he discovers Cat is the Kingmaker, he abducts her.

Publisher's Summary

It's pointless. Hopeless. Even if she weren't afraid of me, we'll always be enemies at the core....

In the city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra is raised to be a human sacrifice. Her death will ensure her city's vitality. In the desert, a mutant beast named Gem fights to save his people, known as the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together they can return balance to their worlds. When Gem is captured for trying to steal Yuan's enchanted roses, he becomes a prisoner of the city. Isra enlists his help and soon begins to care for him - and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

The tales of Beauty and the Beast are some of my favorite stories of all time. I believe it is because of the connection two people must forge over great obstacles. They actually have to get to know one another before they fall steadily in love. To me this makes some of the most epic and memorable stories.

I of course was chomping at the bits to listen to this retelling. And praying that it would be a newnew unique treasure to add to my collection, and not an imitation of previous great works of B & B. Well I devoured this story in twotwo very busy days otherwise it would have been one. I really just can't describe how I feel just now completing it. But I will tell you I REALLY adored this tale.

Love is the whole focal point of the story. Who doesn't like a story about love? I think this story fills that need in me I get when I watch the Disany version of B & B. It is so much more filling. Yet it is a true fairy tale through and through. All be it a futuristic, rusticrustic, sifi, ailian plant one. It really is it's own story. Unique amongst any other I've read that is a true B & B retelling. I really loved the end and how different yet perfect it was. I was disappointed it ended so suddenly, but like I said it's a real fairy tale and that's how they end. You will not be disappointed though. I had my heart in my throat the last part of this book, not believing the drastic turn the plot took. You will need to read it to see what I'm talking about but man, it is something else.

This is on the darkerdarker side of B & B retellings scale. It had a little more blood and gore then I like, although I really can't handle much at all, so it may not bother most people.

This story had the feel of a young adult/ new adult novel. But not as heavy on the angst and whining as most of them are. The characters where very well drawn out and quite memrable. Their problems and relationship where believable (well as believable as a fairy tale can be). And you will be drawn into a whole new world and carried away by the tail of two star crossed lovers.

The narrator was pretty amazing. She definitely helped one to get lost in the story. The way she read the story fit in so well with the flow of the sentences. Which where almost lyrical at times.

All in all this was so worth a credit or even a buy. And I will definitely listen to this one again and again and agian.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending was epic all be it to short. Lol, although I really just didn't want it to end. It fit in nicely with the flow of the story and sticking with the traditional fairy tail set up. Jeez was I tight throated and in shock at that conclusion.

The story was solid, interesting and the only reason I tried this one is because I enjoyed another book that had used Julia Whelan as the voice talent. Really pleasant to listen to. Just came across Stacey Jay, she has a nice way of building relationships and worlds and creating stories that wrap up in a book instead of long drawn out series and frustrating cliffhangers - those have their place - but it was nice to listen to one complete story in one book.

The setting was interesting- people who colonised another planet that relied on magic rather than technology. If you're looking for that, though, I would recommend Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card. The storyline and characters in this story fell flat under the burden of preachy text and too-idealistic characters. I have nothing but good things to say about the audio performance. Go check out Julia's other performances. And browse some of Stacey's other books if you're interested in YA romance with a splash of fantasy. Princess of Thorns had characters that felt perfectly three-dimensional.

This was a cross genre epic fantasy sci fi audio book. I would not really call it a retelling of beauty and the beast, though there are some obvious similarities in the stories (and the title ;). It wasn't perfect, but pretty close to it. I loved the romance and the world building was lush in detail and altogether icky. I liked that even the 'bad' guys were complicated.

I loved this book. It's a very unique version of beauty and the beast that is entertaining from the first word to the last. It's also one of the few books that has an actual ending not an open ending that leaves room for a possible sequel. It is final and gives you closure. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good listen!